Red Pine Wind Facility Eagle Take NEPA Analysis, 2022

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) posted a final environmental assessment and associated supporting documents for a request on an incidental take permit for bald eagles at the Red Pine Wind Facility.  This facility is currently operational and is located on the eastern boundary of Lincoln County, Minnesota, near the towns of Ivanhoe and Arco. The Project consists of 100 turbines, producing up to 200 megawatts of electricity. The Project area contains approximately 44,650 acres.

A draft Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared to analyze the impacts associated with the proposed action. The EA evaluated the impact of issuing (and not issuing) an eagle take permit for the Red Pine Wind Facility. The public comment period ran from June 16-July 18 2022, and all draft documents were available for review. The Service sent notification to four potentially impacted tribal entities (two in South Dakota and two in Minnesota) who have expressed interest in or have history with Lincoln County. This notification was sent via email and hard copy prior to posting of the draft EA for public comment with an invitation to provide comments.  The Service also contacted 21 individuals within 13 entities to apprise them of the availability of the draft EA for review.  The Service did not receive any comments on the draft EA during the public comment period and received no feedback from tribal entities.  

The Final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) were written in August 2022 and the permit was issued to Red Pine Wind on September 14, 2022.  The Final EA and FONSI are posted here.